Judge: Mayor can keep spending large campaign contributions

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A judge has ruled that Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler can keep spending large contributions his campaign collected before the Oregon Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent last week and made campaign donation limits legal in Oregon.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Tom Ryan turned down a request from mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone and others for a temporary restraining order to prevent Wheeler from spending money he raised while Portland’s voter-enacted limits of $500 per donor were unenforceable.

Wheeler’s campaign “reasonably relied on the then-valid judgment in accepting the contributions it accepted,” Ryan ruled verbally at the end of a short hearing.